Rockwell Automation has announced a range of safety light curtains with a patented technology that uses plug-in modules to determine whether a transceiver operates as a transmitter or receiver. Once powered up, the Allen-Bradley GuardShield 450L transceivers adopt their functions from the module.

A German cable-maker has developed what it claims is the world’s first 500V drag-chain cable with four layers. Hradil Spezialkabel says that its 18.8mm-diameter, 61-conductor High-Endurance cable can replace up to five individual drag-chain cables, “massively” reducing the downtime when an energy-chain cable fails.

Schneider Electric has announced a range of energy-efficient contactors with “best-in-class” electronic coils that, it says, use up to 80% less energy and generate up to 50% less heat inside cabinets than electromechanical contactors. The TeSys D Green contactors’ standard dimensions and terminal assignments allow them to be used as direct replacements for other standard contactors, regardless of manufacturer. They can also be combined with Schneider’s new TeSys LR9D electronic overload relays to help lower energy consumption and heat generation in cabinets.

SKF has developed an easy-to-use machine-health monitoring technology based on a portable sensing device that is placed on a machine and transmits vibration and temperature data wirelessly to a smartphone or tablet where an app analyses the data.

Eaton has announced a fast, cost-effective method of assembling motor starters for multi-motor applications. The Motor Starter Feeder System (MSFS) includes backplates with integral three-phase busbars rated at 125A, complemented by feed-in terminal blocks and adapter plates for motor-protective circuit-breakers, motor starter combinations, and soft-starters. Other components, such as measuring modules, can be added.

The German plastics engineering specialist igus claims that a new separator system that it has developed for energy chains will cut installation times by up to 80%. The system, which is easy to open and fill from any side, also simplifies the division of e-chain interiors. It is used in the E4.1L chain which igus describes as “the lightest cable-carrying e-chain on the market”.

Danfoss’ VLT AC drives now come with a wireless operating panel that can communicate with mobile devices such as smartphones, making them easier to install, configure, monitor and control. The VLT Wireless Communication Panel LCP 103 (supplied with the company’s HVAC, Aqua and AutomationDrives) communicates with Danfoss’ MyDrive Connect app running on an IoS or Android device to display the same information as the panel with options for expanded graphic visualisations.

At the 2017 Hannover Fair, the Welsh drives-maker Invertek unveiled a range of IP66-protected variable-speed drives that can be used outdoors. It was also demonstrating an app that allows users of its Optidrive VSDs to commission and monitor their equipment from their smartphones via a wireless Bluetooth link.

Eaton has developed an electronic circuit-breaker for protecting 24V DC control circuits which, it says, will usher in a new era in monitoring these circuits, as well as improving their reliability and reducing the time and space needed to install them. In addition to the selective overload protection provided by other electronic fuses, the PXS24 module offers extra control, switching and signalling functions.

National Instruments (NI) has announced new generation of its LabView engineering system design software which bridges the gap between configuration-based software and custom programming languages with a new approach to measurement automation.

Interroll, the Swiss specialist in products for internal logistics, claims to have developed the world’s most powerful synchronous drum motor for belt conveyor systems. The new motor has an output of up to 1.1kW, delivers up to 100Nm of torque, and can achieve belt speeds of up to 3.34m/s.

Rockwell Automation has announced an alternative to managed industrial Ethernet switches for manufacturers that use unmanaged switches but struggle with downtime or security concerns. The new “lightly-managed” Allen-Bradley Stratix 2500 switch provides the security, resiliency, segmentation and bandwidth-optimisation of a managed switch, without needing extensive configuration.

A Finnish drive manufacturer called Granite Devices claims to have set a new benchmark for servodrive compactness with a snap-on board-format 700W drive that measures just 70 x 37 x 7mm, yet has built-in motion control and SIL2 safety functions. Granite describes the Ioni drive as “the Swiss Army knife for motion control”, adding that it represents “a new era for servodrives” that will bring time and cost savings to machine automation.

Rockwell Automation has developed what it claims is the world’s first solid-state cable-pull emergency-stop device, which uses a microprocessor-based technology to monitor and compensate for any thermal expansion or sagging of the trip-wire.